Deserve [H.S.]

Chapter 24

SAVOR

Christmas was soon approaching.

Harry had told Noah that he was spending the holidays with his family in England and she was selfishly dreading the time apart. Of course she was happy for him that he was getting to spend time with his family, but she knew that she was going to miss him terribly for the nine days that he would be gone.

They would be spending nine days without seeing each other and, though they didn't necessarily see each other everyday, it would still be a struggle because just the thought of being so far apart that they couldn't simply drive to see each other would be daunting. Nine days was nothing in comparison to, say, nine months, but it wouldn't be fun nonetheless.

The truth was, Harry was dreading it somewhat as well. He loved his family and he was excited to see them again after so long, but he had found so much comfort and happiness in Noah that he didn't want to be so far away from her. It was only nine days, though. That's what he kept telling himself. Just nine days.

Because they wouldn't be able to be together on Christmas, they had arranged to exchange their gifts before he left.

With that being said, the day before he left, Noah was spending the night at his apartment to help him pack in addition to their gift exchange. Although it was a Saturday night, Harry didn't have a fight because, surprisingly, the ring had shut down for a couple weeks due to the holidays. Anthony Wolfe was a horrible man, but he enjoyed the normality of spending the holidays with his family.

Harry's flight was in the late morning the next day, Sunday, so Noah had already offered to drive him straight to the airport after spending the night with him. Though Harry didn't want to inconvenience her, the thought of her sending him off with a final goodbye kiss was an opportunity he selfishly could not pass up.

After they had dinner that Saturday night, which Harry had cooked, they were in Harry's bedroom with his suitcase open on the bed. Noah had helped Harry pack at first, but she got too tired and sad at the thought of him leaving, so she was then splayed out on her back across his bed with her arms stretching out beside her. She was simply staring at the ceiling as she heard and saw Harry moving around out of the corner of her eye.

Harry was grabbing pants, sweatshirts, long sleeves, and any other warm clothes he had to put in his suitcase. He also went in and out of his bathroom, grabbing whatever toiletries he needed and placing them in a faux-leather toiletry bag he had.

When he had finished packing everything he needed, besides the everyday essentials that he still needed to use tomorrow morning, he zipped up his case and moved it off of his bed. Then, he climbed onto his bed and crawled over Noah, coming to a stop with his hands on the bed beside her head and his face right in front of hers.

Noah didn't do anything else besides pout and stare at him with sad eyes, murmuring, "I'm gonna miss you," in a sad voice.

Harry let a deep groan rumble up from his throat as he rolled onto his back and brought Noah with him so she could cuddle up against his side, draping a leg over his hips and resting her cheek against his collarbone.

"Don't say shit like that. I'll cancel my flight right now, I swear."

Letting out a giggle, Noah played with the fabric of his cotton tee-shirt. "Don't. It'll be good for you to see your family. Besides, it's only nine days. Just nine days."

A deep sigh was released as Harry brought his free hand that wasn't wrapped around Noah's waist to rub his face in frustration. "I know, I know. I just don't want to be that far away from you."

Noah hummed, "me neither, handsome. Believe me. But, we'll FaceTime any chance we get and text all throughout the day, okay? But, also, please allow yourself to enjoy the time with your family. I don't want you moping around on your phone the whole time instead of spending quality time with them."